Rattling antlers?

[Jeff13]

When do you guys start hitting the antlers? Towards the end of this month?

Never really tried it much so just looking for a good time to start.

[Scoot]

Personally, I don't bother until after about the 23rd of Oct or so . I know it's worked for some earlier than that, but I have had no luck before about then. From the last few days of Oct through the first week of Nov it sure can be fun!

[matchset]

Scoot is right....

a Few days either side of Halloween is when you're most likely to get a positive response..

...a word to the wise; don't rattle when he's looking in your direction.

[Rippinlip]

Agreed to above with exception.

It never hurts to try if nothing else is working.

I have had some response earlier in Oct, like this time of the month.

I do not get into the full fight routine, just some brushing of the tines.

Lots of bucks will do some light sparring early and it could bring some interested fellas out of the woodwork.

Best part of deer hunting is trial and error.

[x1957x]

No good until you see the bucks chasin the hen's. Then you can test them.. Keep it soft and gentle. I have kept track for many years and the earliest I have ever seen the bucks chaseing doe's is the 18th of October. More than likely in S.W. mn. it is the 20th of October for sure is the time frame tho.. Have had really good luck about a week before the peak of the rut to!

[MUSKY18]

I will use them as soon as I know that the bucks are starting to create the order of dominance and spar with one another. Nothing real heavy, just tickling them together a little bit every now and again. Closer it gets to Halloween, the more I will start to really hammer away with them.

[snapcrackpop]

I learned a trick a few years ago...

I attach my antlers to my pull up rope and "jig".

Not only are the antlers out of the way, but they also kick up leaves and hit branches and have the sound from the ground instead of up in a tree. (a more realistic sound)

Try to set up in a brushy area so they can't see through the area the noise is coming from.

[Jeff13]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[Musky Buck]

If you fear for your safety don't do this but my dads best friend had a streak of 8 bucks in 10 years of rattling during the firearms season and I'm not talking yearlings, he has 100% confidence in doing it. The last time I tried it 10 years ago or more I rattled in another hunter. I'd guess from roughly Oct. 20th-Nov.10 or so that 3 week stretch.

[nbadger23]

Funny you mention that... I hit the rattle bag a few times this morning thinking "what the hell." Of course, it produced nothing, much like it has the other hundreds of times I've rattled. I know there are many variables to it such as time of year, hearing conditions, your buck to doe ratio, etc... but the only luck I've had with rattling is during the last part of October and the first part of November AND when I've had a buck I can see. In this case, I've hit the rattle bag pretty lightly so as not to make a lot of movement and get picked off and it caused the buck to turn and come my way, but locked up too far out.

However, I've read multiple stories of hunters shooting big bucks using light rattle sequences from the start of the season on. To me, it's one of those tactics that I think can only really hurt you if you do it too loud and too often. If you do it every 15 minutes or so and don't over do it, you never know what might happen.

[96trigger]

I use rattling to bring bucks in that I cannot see. I get aggressive the last week in October into the middle of November. I have rattled in numerous bucks. A few large ones. I feel that his year things seem to be ahead of schedule, I know, probably not, but its just the feeling I have with the way the weather patterns are, the temps, deer movement, rubs and scrapes, crops leaving the fields, etc.... So I will probably start rattling a little this week and see what it produces. I have heard numerous 1st hand accounts already of bucks starting to spar. I won't go all out, but I might hit the bag a little bit.

[CrewJones]

in my area the big bucks are just starting to hit all the scrapes the young ones were making, this has been at night obviously but i think there getting in the mood

[rkhinrichs]

do any of you guys put out scent to improve rattling? and which combination works the best?

[96trigger]

I generally don't put out much scent. I have not had the best results with it. If I do use it, I keep it in the little vials, and hang them from the tree. I also don't like walking around so much on my way to the stand. I think if the scent isn't good, the bucks don't like it, and I cannot tell good doe estrus from bad. I might put it out if I know a buck is in the area. I am more likely to put it out during the rut, not prerut, to try and entice a buck that is already in locked down in love to come check me out.

[bigbucks]

Rattling works, definitely works better in lightly hunted areas. I've rattle in some small bucks during October with light rattling. I can think of 3 bucks for sure that I've rattling in that neighbors have killed before they got to me. One of those was a 140-150" 10 ptr. All three I saw the deer before they were killed, two I watched drop, so be careful how close others are when you do it.

I rattled in my 152" 11 ptr the year before I shot him & he caught me on the draw. The next year I grunted him in. Both were blind calls.

[Musky Buck]

I can't say I've had rattling work nor scent, ever, but when you connect opening weekend I'm done so that's that, but I have had my grunt call work 2x during rifle where they were looking for it, not just happening to amble by when I did it, unfortunately both were yearlings but it worked ! I followed the 1 in snow and he was bedded about 75 yards away little did I know, but it got him out of his bed, man he was on me quick, that was pretty cool.

[slimngrizzly]

I have rattled 3 bucks to within 5 yards between Oct.31 and Nov.7 and numerous others. All were deer I believe I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also they were all withing 30 minutes of legal shooting time. One was a 152" 11 point that tried to mount my doe decoy 15 feet from the base of my tree, another was in the 130's that I shot at 3 steps! It works wonders at the right time!

You should never need scent because one of the important steps you need to take is to make sure they cant get down wind of you (without getting an arrow in them first)!

Beat the antlers till they smoke!

[Odonata]

The last week of October through rifle opener in zone 1 have always been magic. No guarantees, but a lot of fun. They're usually coming in on a mission and expect to see another deer. The bigger bucks I've had come in get spooky when the opponent isn't there as they expected.